Share this interview

Brian Peterson and Matt Faris

Brian Peterson, 31, is an artist — he designs cars for a living — who lives in Santa Ana, California. Matt Faris, 38, is a homeless musician who would often sit outside Brian’s apartment building.

For several months, Brian passed Matt on his way to and from work. Then, one day, Brian decided to introduce himself. The friendship they would go on to develop would have a surprising influence on them both.

After befriending Matt, Brian started a non-profit called Faces of Santa Ana, for which he paints portraits of people in the homeless community and donates the proceeds from the sales of his work to his subjects.

Middle image: Brian Peterson’s portrait of his friend, Matt Faris.

Credits

Produced By

Facilitated By

Music

Transcript

Brian Peterson (BP) and Matt Faris (MF)

BP: I remember walking up to you. It was like butterflies in my stomach. I introduced myself, and I think I apologized to you. I remember saying, ”I’m sorry for like driving by you a hundred times and never saying hi.” ‘Cause you were always outside my building.

MF: You asked me a lot of questions, like what I want to do with my life. Things that are important to a person.

BP: One of the first things you told me was that, ’I moved here from Kentucky to be a musician. And some things didn’t work out.’

MF: Yeah.

BP: And then out of nowhere, I just asked you, ’Can I paint your portrait?’

MF: My first thought when you asked that was, ’Oh, wow, an artist.’ Something I have someone in common with. [sic]

BP: In that first conversation, I was looking at you and you say you’re not photogenic, but I — I saw the man who moved from Kentucky, the guy who came out here to pursue a career in music. And I hadn’t painted in eight years, but you were the first guy that captured my heart and gave me a subject to paint.

MF: And when you asked me what I wanted to do with the proceeds from the painting, I didn’t even have to think about it.

BP: I was trying to get you, like, hotel rooms, and clothes, and book bags, and shoes…

MF: Yeah, you’d made some suggestions…

BP: [laughs] And you’d always say, ’No, no, no, no…’ [laughs]

MF: ”Well, that sounds nice, but I want to record a CD. [laughs]

BP: After you told me that for like the tenth time, I started finding studios for you to record in. In that first recording session, I saw you on the piano, on the guitar, singing…

MF: Yes.

BP: And then I remember you got to the drums. And there was no drum set. We were like, ’We’ll just use synthesized drums.’ And you told me, ’No way.’

And I thought to myself, ’Man, how many areas in my own life have I just maybe gave in to settling for less?’ And the fact that you wouldn’t was a lesson that I’ve taken with me from that day.

MF: I don’t know, like, how many people will end up hearing the album. But it’s really helped me a lot to meet someone who’s really stuck with me.

BP: For me, I consider you more than a friend. You’ve shown me things may not always be what they seem and that there’s a new way of looking at the world. And everyone deserves to be seen with eyes of love.